Sexual Games [The Heroes of Silver Springs 8] (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

“I’ve seen you on a dance floor. You’re idea of dancing makes Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s interpretation fit for a Disney special.”

Mallory threw her head back and laughed. “You should try it sometime. A couple of hot, sweaty bodies bumping and grinding to the beat of the music, a little alcohol to numb the senses…” She trailed off as her words created an image in her head that made her panties wet. She saw Jackson on a dance floor, his tie gone and shirt half unbuttoned to reveal a rock-solid chest speckled with dark springy hair. She saw his stormy gaze lock with hers as he crooked a finger, beckoning her closer. She could almost feel one corded, muscular arm as it slid around her waist and yanked her close. Then he started to move, grinding his thickening cock against her belly and sending slivers of erotic heat straight to her pussy.

“I should try it with you, I suppose.”

His words ripped her from the quickly accelerating porn flick taking form in her mind. She shifted in her seat and felt more juices escape her slick folds as she pulled the car into the parking lot of FBI HQ. She looked at him as she put the car in park and shut off the engine.

“It would be a place to start.” She slid her gaze from his face to his chest, her hands burning to touch. She wanted to push off his jacket, rip open his shirt and flatten her palms on his tanned flesh. She wanted to feel his dense muscles flex under her hands. She dared to lean closer to him, to reach for his tie, and let the silk glide through her fingers. “You’re still wearing this tie far too tight, Agent Graham.”

His hand closed around her wrist and she suddenly felt dizzy, intoxicated. It was as if his fingers came equipped with tiny needles that penetrated her flesh and injected her with a heavy dose of erotic desire. His stormy gaze locked with hers and the intensity in his stare took her breath away. Challenge, promise, and hope twisted in an expression that was starkly sexual and dangerous as hell.

“Take it off, Mallory. You know what you’ll get.”

Sanity teetered as need urged her to do things her mind screamed she shouldn’t. Yeah, she knew what she would get, exactly what she’d wanted for more years than she could count. Knowledge of what it would cost her in return had her slowly dropping her hand and easing back into her own seat.

A flash of disappointment moved through his handsome face. “You still aren’t ready to play.”

The passenger door closed with a finality that sent a shudder down her spine. Anger and a fear she could no longer ignore kept her planted in her seat as she watched him walk into the building, saw him stop just inside the door to wait for her. He’d taken over the game, changed the rules.

“Not by a long shot,” she muttered as she got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. She was Mallory Stone, and she didn’t stand placidly by while anyone attempted to take control of anything she possessed. Jackson wanted to play. Well, then, she’d just have to stage a game he’d never forget.

* * * *

“Oh my God, did you see how he looked at you?” Terri plopped down on the end of the sofa in Jackson’s apartment and folded her legs Indian style as she reached for a slice of pizza from the open box on the coffee table. She had taken a quick shower and changed into a pair of barely there shorts and a cut-off T-shirt that had seen better days.

Thaddeus considered a shower himself, but his grumbling stomach demanded he eat first. They’d decided to call for a pizza, finding a flyer for a local pizzeria under a magnet on the fridge. Terri had danced around the apartment as if they had hit a gold mine. Jackson’s kitchen was stocked with better, healthier options that Thaddeus could have whipped up in a jiffy, but everything was meticulously organized and seeming to scream
mess me up and you die
.

When Jackson had called, he’d told them to make themselves at home. One look around his apartment and they’d both been afraid they might cross a line. Absolutely nothing appeared to be out of place. A buttery leather sofa and recliner with brown marble end tables and a coffee table decorated the main room. Bookshelves laden with nonfiction novels, crime thrillers, and framed photos flanked a big-screen television. Two barstools sat at the bar separating the kitchen and living room. Thaddeus had taken a peek into the bedrooms to discover both were furnished with king-size beds, a wooden dresser, and matching nightstands. Everything was in neutral colors and probably came straight from IKEA.

“Of course you saw,” Terri said around a mouthful of pizza, “because you, my fruity friend, were looking right back at him.”

“What did you expect me to do, ignore the guy?” Thaddeus handed her one of the canned sodas he’d taken from the fridge, put a slice of pizza on a saucer, and settled on the opposite end of the sofa.

Terri laughed, a quick burst of thoroughly amused air. “Honey, you couldn’t have ignored that man if you’d tried. Hell, I couldn’t have. He was H-O-T.”

Tell me about it.
Wicked hot would’ve been Thaddeus’s description. He still felt the heat of Cameron Stone’s presence and the man had been gone for over an hour. The FBI agent oozed sex from every pore, and the way he’d looked at Thaddeus nearly made him come in his cargo pants. Thaddeus had never found the grunge, surfer-boy look appealing, until today. Who knew when you put a pair of tennis shoes and khaki cargo shorts with an untucked shirt on a strongly defined, muscled body like Cameron’s, you’d get six feet of pure temptation wrapped in carnal sex appeal? And his eyes, sweet baby Jesus, those blue eyes had taken Thaddeus on a dive headfirst into the want-to-fuck-you sea.

Terri frowned as she took another bite. “I’ve really about had it with all the super scrumptious guys being gay. First Adrien, then you, and now Cameron Stone. I mean, aren’t there any hunk-a-licious, doable,
straight
men anymore?”

Thaddeus’s lips twitched. “Sure there are. That’s why this trip should be like a treasure hunt for you. Think of it, Ter, a whole city full of men you’ve yet to explore.”

“Mmm hmm, and who starts exploring with the first guy we meet?” She leaned over and patted his thigh. “I’m proud of you, Vegister. You flirted first. I’ve never seen you do that.”

Thaddeus couldn’t believe he’d done it himself. He’d glanced down the hall when he’d heard the elevator doors slide open, and his hormones had overloaded his brain. When was the last time that had happened?

When you looked at Adrien Bingham.

Yeah, he’d boarded the same flight to Happy Hormonal Land the first time he’d set his gaze on Adrien, too.

And look how that turned out.

“It was good, you know, to see you let yourself be attracted to another man. You’ve been holding out for Adrien for so long and, well, it’s probably a good thing that you’re finally moving on.”

Thaddeus didn’t want to move on. He wanted Adrien. He’d had the man, too, in an afternoon of amazingly explosive sex right in the middle of his own kitchen. God, he still dreamed about that day. He wished he could turn back the clock and do it all over again. His attraction to Adrien wasn’t one-sided. Adrien wanted him, but someone else stood in the way, someone Thaddeus had never met.

Or had he?

Thaddeus’s gaze landed on a framed photo on top of the bookshelf across the room. In the picture, Cameron and Jackson stood on either side of a beautiful autumn-haired woman. Their arms were entwined around each other’s shoulders, the woman’s head resting on Jackson’s chest, and Cameron smiling down at her. That smile pulled at something in Thaddeus’s gut.

“I think he’s the one.” He didn’t realize he’d put voice to the thought until Terri responded.

“Aw, honey, I know you did, but you can’t wait around for him to make his choice forever.”

Thaddeus shook his head. “I meant Cameron.”

Terri’s eyes widened. “Now hold up, Road Runner. You talked to the guy for, what, all of five minutes, with me standing there, might I add? I’ve heard of love at first sight and all that jazz, but you can’t really believe that.”

Thaddeus sighed and set his saucer holding his untouched slice of pizza on the coffee table, his appetite suddenly gone. “You’re not getting it. Cameron knows Adrien. They were both a part of the operation that brought down Ving Kim Phay’s cartel.”

Terri’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God. You think?”

Thaddeus shrugged. “It fits. Adrien talked about the man a lot. Sure, it was all related to the case and stuff, but…”

It did fit, far more than Thaddeus wanted it to. The DEA and FBI had worked closely for over four years before they’d finally taken out the notorious Cambodian drug lord. Thaddeus had met Adrien in the midst of it all, and Adrien, though single, had already been hung up on another guy.

I don’t really believe he’s an issue, but I need to know for sure before I go any further.

Adrien had said that after laying a kiss on Thaddeus in the middle of a movie wrap-up party Thaddeus had never been able to push far from his mind. Unable to give up on the man, Thaddeus had stood on the sidelines, quietly going crazy while he waited for Adrien to figure things out.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” What could he do? He could make sure the next time he saw Cameron he kept his happy little flirt bunny in check, for starters. Yeah, that would definitely be a good idea.

“You could ask him.” She giggled when Thaddeus slanted her a disbelieving look. “Oh, come on, you’re not as chickenshit as you think. Remember how you staged that meeting at the gym so you’d purposely run into Adrien? Remember how you admitted to it over drinks at the Paradise Lounge? A confession, might I remind you, that led to a sensual walk on the beach and several days later—”

“Yeah,” Thaddeus cut her off. “I remember.”
Far too well.
That several days later was when he and Adrien pushed all caution to the wind and had their wild bout of monkey sex in his kitchen.

“Okay,” Terri said slowly. “I can see how you wouldn’t want to come right out and ask Cameron, considering you just met the guy. So call Adrien. Ask him.”

Sure. Thaddeus could just hear that conversation.
Hey, baby, you know that guy you said you didn’t believe was an issue? The one who’s kept you from closing in on me for years? The one you said
wasn’t
an issue any longer the last time we talked, but then suddenly you were backing away again? His name wouldn’t happen to be Cameron Stone, would it?

“No.” Thaddeus pushed himself off the sofa and raked a hand through his hair. “I’m not calling either of them. I’m not asking either of them. What I am going to do is take a shower, then go to bed.”

And lie there awake half the night thinking about both men because,
fuck
, he suddenly had a feeling fate had dropped him into a game of three-man chess he hadn’t known was already in progress.

* * * *

Jackson sat in a chair in front of his boss’s desk and held the other man’s gaze. Most agents squirmed when they found themselves subject to that inscrutable stare. He would not make that basic blunder. He kept his posture relaxed, his expression blank, and simply waited.

Adam Cooper sat behind his desk, his posture relaxed in his dark Italian suit. Everything about the man screamed badass agent, from his muscular build to the rough features of his face. Power and control pumped off him in waves. Speculation had been flying around the bureau for years as to whether the man was even mortal.

He held a pen in his left hand but, like usual, didn’t make any agitated or nervous movements. A pad was on his desk with notes scribbled across it in handwriting worse than any doctor’s. He’d taken notes of Jackson’s account of the night, not commenting once on anything Jackson had said.

Jackson saw the muscle jumping in the man’s stern jaw, though. Cooper was likely grinding his teeth so hard it was a wonder he didn’t have little bits of enamel shooting out of his ass. Then again, he was sitting on said ass.

A heavy silence filled the office. Jackson knew what Cooper was doing. Mallory, Cameron, and Marcus Kell would know, too. The four of them had worked under Cooper’s lead long enough to know the man could outwait the dead. In turn, Cooper should know neither of them would jump in with excuses, even when they’d fucked up as badly as Jackson had tonight.

“Since no one else seems to have the balls to ask, I’m going to.” Cameron broke the silence, his tone half amused as he flattened a hand on the wall closest to the boss’s desk. “What the hell were you thinking, Graham?”

Yeah, Jackson had left that much out. He had recounted every second of the night from the point that he’d gotten out of his car in the apartment garage to the moment he had called Mallory for a lift. Everything, that is, except for the thoughts that had been going through his head.

“She obviously knew you.” Cooper put down the pen, propped his elbows on the desk, and steepled his fingers, his stare on Jackson unwavering. At times like this, Jackson felt like the man could peel him like an onion, layer by layer. “Instinctively, a part of you thought you knew her. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gone with her so easily. What was it about her that made you think that?”

Absolutely nothing.
Everything she’d done, everything she’d said, his mind had twisted around, putting Mallory in the starring role.

“Was it something about her voice, something she said?” Cooper’s own voice sounded hard, restrained. The man was holding back, no doubt waiting for the moment when he could ream Jackson’s ass in private. “What about her scent, the feel of her hand?”